Device for treating long flat textile materials

ABSTRACT

Device for treating long flat textile materials utilizing rotating drum with apertures distributed over length of drum for passage of fluid and with at least one radial rib whose height is 20-25 percent of the drum diameter.

United States Patent Schuierer 1 Oct. 10, 1972 [54] DEVICE FOR TREATINGLONG FLAT 3,401,052 9/1968 Berger et al. ..68/58 X TEXTILE MATERIALS906,816 12/ 1908 Nicolson ..68/58 [72] Invenm'r: Manfred schulerer EF3,402,576 9/ 1968 Krupsky ..68/4 bach/od n Id G 2,758,462 8/1956 Moss..68/142 6 we 2,911,810 11/1959 Lantz et a1 ..68/58 x [73] Assignee:Bruckner-Apparatebau Michelstadt Gmb", Erbacham Odenwald, Gab FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS m ny 697,523 9/1953 Great Britain ..68/58687,094 5/1964 Canada ..68/58 [22] 1971 521,496 2/1956 Canada ..68/140[2]] Appl. No.: 107,318

Pn'mary Examiner-William 1. Price Attarne Geor e F. Dvorak, Ste hen T.Sk dlak 30 Foreign Application Prlority Data and Maiden ordon P W Jan.20, 1970 Germany ..P 20 02 357.8

ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. .Q ..68/5 B, 68/58, 68/143 Device for treatinglong flat textile materials utilizing [51] '2 Cl 37/06 1306f 37/08 1306f39/08 rotating drum with apertures distributed over length of 0f..68/58, 4, drum for Passage and at least one radial 5 B rib whoseheight is 20-25 percent of the drum diameter. [56] References Cited 3Claims, 3 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,192,903 8 /1916lefierson 68 /14 0 X DEVICE FOR TREATING DONG FLAT TEXTILE MATERIALSThis invention relates to a device for treating flat textile structures,especially webs of fabric, in a rotating drum provided with aperturesfor the inlet and outlet of a liquid or gaseous treatment medium.

Devices of this type have long been known for the washing and chemicalcleaning of garments or laundry. For some time drum machines of thistype' have also been used for treating long webs of material in thefinishing of textiles. Considerable problems arise however with thislast-mentioned application. Irrespective of how the long webs of fabricare laid in the drum, during the course of treatment the web runstogether into a cord and becomes twisted and snarled. This leads toirregular treatment of the fabric web, to the formation of folds, andespecially to time-consuming and tedious subsequent operations to removethe twists and snarls.

Attempts have been made to prevent this twisting and snarling of thefabric web by limiting the freedom of movement of the material withinthe drum. For this purpose the flat textile structures have'been packedinto coarse-meshedbags, or the cross-section of the drum has beendivided by horizontal inserts into a number of chambers. These solutionsto the problem are however unsatisfactory, since they greatly affect theuniform changing of the position of the material in the drum, especiallythe aimed-for free fall of the broadly laid-out web, which is desired inthe treatment of the material.

The invention is therefore based on the problem of constructing a deviceof the type described, which firstly prevents the undesired twisting andsnarling of the material and secondly achieves uniform displacement(change of position) of the material in the drum.

According to the invention this problem is solved by the combination ofthe following features:

a. The length of the drum is at least as great as its diameter;

b. The drum has on its inside at least one radially disposed rib, whoseheight is 20-50 percent of the drum diameter;

0. The holes for entry of the treatment medium are uniformly distributedover the whole length of the drum.

The tests on which the invention is based have shown that the choice ofan adequate length for the drum is the first condition for avoiding thetwisting and snarling of a web of fabric treated in the drum. A drumlength corresponding to the drum diameter must be considered as a lowerlimit; in general it is more desirable if the ratio of drum length todrum diameter is greater than about 1.25. In any case the length of thedrum must be at least equal to the maximum width of the web of fabric.

The drum can be divided along its length by adjustable intermediatewalls to permit adaptation to any particular width of fabric.

An important combinational feature of the device provided by theinvention is also the relatively high radial rib which has a particularfunction in guiding the web. During the rotary movement of the drum thisrib provides the necessary shifting of the fabric in the drum, while itsheight ensures a good positioning of the web during its largely freefall in thedrum.

An important feature for the combination provided by the invention hasalso been found to lie I in the uniform distribution over the entirelength of the drum of the holes for entry of the treatment medium. Ifthe medium is instead supplied irregularly, a force is applied to oneside of the web only, and tests confirm that this considerably favorsthe undesired twisting and snarling of the web of fabric.

The simultaneous application of the features of the invention asexplained above provides ideal treatment of the web inside the drum; theundisturbed free fall of the broadly laid web provides excellenttreatment quality; through avoidance of twisting and snarling phenomenathe quality of the fabric is greatly improved, and subsequenttime-consuming work is avoided.

These and further features of the invention appear from the followingdescription of an embodiment shown in the drawings. In these:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a device in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section during movement of the drum; I

FIG. 3 is a cross-section during the rest position.

Inside the fixed drum housing 1 is a perforated drum 3 adapted toreceive a long web of fabric 2, and which can be rotated by a-reversibledrive, not shown. The length of the drum is considerably greater thanits diameter.

On its inside the drum 3 has a rib 4, disposed generally radially andwith a height of 20-50 percent of the drum diameter.

On opposite sides of the rib 4 there are disposed on the internalperiphery of drum 3 two spray pipes 5,6 which rotate with the drum, andover their entire length have uniformly distributed holes for emergenceof the liquid treatment medium. The two spray pipes 5,6 are fed from aconduit 7 which passes through the hollow shaft of the drum and isconnected to a device 8 wherein the treatment medium 10 withdrawn fromthe drum housing 1 via a conduit 9 is prepared afresh. The drum 3 can bedivided along its length by transversely extending longitudinallyadjustable intermediate walls 12 to permit adaptation of the width ofthe drum to any particular width of fabric 2.

The drum housing 1 and the casing of the drum 3 are each provided with aslot or aperture extending along each members entire length, and coversare provided to close the slots or apertures when the device is in use.The slots and covers, which are not shown, are constructed in knownmanner and details thereof are not pertinent to the novelty of thisinvention.

The mode of operation of the device in FIGS. 1-3 is as follows:

Through the apertures, not shown, in the drum housing 1 and in thecasing of drum 3, the web of fabric 2 to be treated is fed flat into thedrum. The drum housing 1 is then filled fully or in part with the liquidtreatment medium, which is made to circulate by a pump, not shown. Theliquid treatment medium, sprayed through the pipes 5,6 in the directionof the arrows 11, comes into intensive contact with the fabric web 2,then passes outwardly through the perforated casing of drum 3, and iswithdrawn through the conduit 9.

During this treatment the drum preferably undergoes a reversingmovement, with pauses between the separate movements. The rotarymovement between two successive reversals covers an angle between 180and 360. If an angle of about 360 is selected, the rib 4 and the twospray pipes 5 and 6 preferably lie in the upper area of the drum 3 whenthis is in its rest position (see FIG. 3). As shown particularly in FIG.2, during the rotary movement of drum 3 the rib 4 has the effect ofguiding and stabilizing the web of fabric 2 during its free fall.

The device provided by the invention is obviously also suitable for thetreatment of flat textile structures by gaseous treatment media. In thiscase the fixed housing surrounding the perforated drum is preferablyprovided with two slots extending over the entire length of the drum,one intended for the entry and the other for the exit of the gaseoustreatment medium.

What we claim is:

l. A device for treating flat textile structures, especially webs offabric, in a rotating drum provided with apertures for the inlet andoutlet of a liquid or gaseous treatment medium, the combinationcomprising:

a drum mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis, the length ofthe drum being at least as great as its diameter;

a longitudinal extending rib mounted on the inner periphery of the drumand extending radially therefrom toward the drum axis, the height of therib being from about 20% to about 50% of the diameter of the drum;

pair of longitudinally extending spray pipes mounted on the innerperiphery of the drum for rotation therewith, one pipe disposed on eachside of the rib, each pipe including a plurality of holes therein spacedover the length of the pipe for uniformly distributing treatment mediuminto the drum over the length thereof;

treatment medium supply means for supplying the treatment medium to thespray pipes; and

the rib and the two spray pipes lie in the upper area of the drum whenthe drum is not rotating and is in the rest position.

2. A device as in claim 1, characterized in that the drum can betransversely divided along its length by adjustable intermediate wallsto permit adaptation to any particular width of fabric.

3. A device as in claim 1, characterized in that the ratio of drumlength to drum diameter is greater than about 1.25.

1. A device for treating flat textile structures, especially webs offabric, in a rotating drum provided with apertures for the inlet andoutlet of a liquid or gaseous treatment medium, the combinationcomprising: a drum mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis, thelength of the drum being at least as great as its diameter; alongitudinal extending rib mounted on the inner periphery of the drumand extending radially therefrom toward the drum axis, the height of therib being from about 20% to about 50% of the diameter of the drum; apair of longitudinally extending spray pipes mounted on the innerperiphery of the drum for rotation therewith, one pipe disposed on eachside of the rib, each pipe including a plurality of holes therein spacedover the length of the pipe for uniformly distributing treatment mediuminto the drum over the length thereof; treatment medium supply means forsupplying the treatment medium to the spray pipes; and the rib and thetwo spray pipes lie in the upper area of the drum when the drum is notrotating and is in the rest position.
 2. A device as in claim 1,characterized in that the drum can be transversely divided along itslength by adjustable intermediate walls to permit adaptation to anyparticular width of fabric.
 3. A device as in claim 1, characterized inthat the ratio of drum length to drum diameter is greater than about1.25.